Re: Gardening

Yes Veruka, I should have said "most" like cold winters. I know that there are warm climate lilacs because I also found them on the lilac search. I assume that whatever variety your local nursery carries would be the ones to buy. I'm going to keep track of how often these little serial bloomers really do their thing.

Re: Gardening

Its still too early for me to pop the campagne corks, but I MIGHT have found a way of dealing with the rabbits in my yard that kind of works. An old neighbor of mind had told me to fill the beds with the "gumballs" that sweetgum trees drop. Just like we don't like walking on them, they hurt rabbits feet too, so they stay away. I got a garbage bag full of them from my sister, spread some around the flowers I wanted to protect the most, and it APPEARS that the nibbling on those flowers has stopped. I'm knocking on wood as I type this. If it proves to work, I think I"m going to start suggesting to nurseries that they start selling them as mulch. I did put Preen down before I put them out to hopefully cut back on the number of trees that try to seed in my beds.

Re: Gardening

If that doesn't work, you may want to consider "An official Red Ryder carbine action two-hundred shot range model air rifle with a compass in the stock and this thing that tells time."

I'm in the process of fitting my potato plants with scuba gear. I received 5" of rain on Sunday, a bit each day this week, and about 1" this morning. There is a good chance of heavy rain tonight, tomorrow, tomorrow night, AND Sunday, too

Re: Gardening

My daughter just dropped off my 'mothers day' present of a lilac bush. I had asked for one. We gave my mom one as kids back at the old home and it was always one of the nicest things to see bloom each year.
she game me one at our previous home (she lives there now) and it took several years to 'bloom' but boy did it. the last 2 years, and then we moved.

she got us a 'Syringa vulgaris "Sensation" ' this time, and this will be our first spring/summer in the new place. reading about it, it came grow to 8' to 15' . Guess I won't plant it under my office window like I thought ,. Just have to really think about where to put it - and we are in a condo so guess I'll discuss with the landscape people too. No problem with having our own, just might be helpful to talk to them about it.

Re: Gardening

Ugh. I have workers here fixing my eaves troughs and downspouts. What does that have to do with gardening you ask? Well, they had to extend a downspout and I understand why, but it looks just horrible. I am looking for a shade-loving plant (some dappled sun in the afternoon) for a very small space that I can plant nearby to cover it up. It can't grow very high because of windows and a Maple that is there. Some sort of low bush that stays fairly green would be great. I considered Hostas since they do really well here, but I would prefer something else. We're in zone 6a, and any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

Re: Gardening

Originally Posted by canuckinchile;3431242;

Ugh. I have workers here fixing my eaves troughs and downspouts. What does that have to do with gardening you ask? Well, they had to extend a downspout and I understand why, but it looks just horrible. I am looking for a shade-loving plant (some dappled sun in the afternoon) for a very small space that I can plant nearby to cover it up. It can't grow very high because of windows and a Maple that is there. Some sort of low bush that stays fairly green would be great. I considered Hostas since they do really well here, but I would prefer something else. We're in zone 6a, and any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

Did they attach a drain pipe at the end of the downspout and extent it to run out of your mulch bed or does it drain into your bed ? If you could get them to run it out of your mulch bed that would be great. The reason for my question is depending on the soil (wet or dry). I can recommend a plant.

Re: Gardening

It does run out of the bed so the water isn't flowing directly into it. The area is quite moist and I do have mulch on top, so no sun/dry loving plants. Thanks for any help!!

Astilbe / goats beard may be a good option. It flowers in the early Summer, but the plant portion is pretty on its own too. Japanese painted ferns are another pretty option. Both of those are more plant size, so if you're looking for something mid-height to fill the space vertically it may not be the best choice. But they're two of my favorite shade plants. Columbine is also beautiful, but the plant portion of it doesn't always stick around for the full season.

Re: Gardening

It does run out of the bed so the water isn't flowing directly into it. The area is quite moist and I do have mulch on top, so no sun/dry loving plants. Thanks for any help!!

Would ferns work? I don't know how they do in moist soil, but I've killed every fern I've ever had because I don't water the garden much beyond what I can get from the rain barrels, so it would seem that they don't care for dry too much.

ETA. Oooh, I don't know how you feel about tiger lillies, but they come up early, stay late, hide pretty much anything underneath them, and just refuse to die.